Our last walkthrough in the fantastic Heyman 42 showed a high-class purpose-built practical cruising yacht for a sailing couple tackling a „true“ blue water or long-haul voyage. My next and third Boot Duesseldorf-walkthrough is a cruising yacht too but with a very special emphasis: The headline of this article, „The sailing living room“ is not my own idea. It´s the punchline and unique selling proposition coined by the Saffier shipyard. That´s what this boat is all about: Leisure. Vacation. Lush luxury.
I´ve written about this yacht in January 2024 when her concept had been announced already. At that time I found two major aspects most interesting about her. First the fact that Saffier Yachts up until now had been known for making smaller coastal or inshore-dedicated daysailers. And secondly the ideas around that boat which had been proposed back then already. Let´s see if the real thing can live up to the premature praise.
Saffier Yachts: Well-known for luxury daysailers
I regularly come across Saffier boats, mostly down south in the Lake of Constance, one of the last „happy places“ of Germany. In this location a relatively wealthy clientel and a relatively special sailing area add up to a special combination. High berthin costs and high demand creates a very profitable environment. A high-class upper-shelf brand like Saffier is pretty much flourishing here. When trying to sell „our“ small and fast First-daysailers I often had to stand my ground against the Saffiers. And so, honestly, I often lost the race for a purchase contract when it came to spotless high quality craftsmanship and lush luxury.
So, here we are, one year later: The brand new Saffier SL 46 celebrates her world premiere at the Rhine. 46 feet is a large size for a sailboat. Larger size means more efforts to be undertaken in production to ensure quality. I can very well remember the sheer size of the undertaking by the Seascape shipyard when they launched the First 36 – upsizing from their previous 27-feet to the new size of the flagship meant a lot struggle, challenge and extra-effort for the whole team. For Saffier, I am sure, the undertaking was similar.
It´s clearly a difference between making boats from 6.50 meters to 8 meters in average and now coming up with a comparatively „huge“ and complex yacht of almost 14 meters. Saffier has a 12 meter boat already in production, that´s a decent sice for a yacht and in this there should be anough experience and code-of-practice. Nevertheless, this CAT A oceanic cruising yacht marks a huge stepstone for Saffier as they are now entering a whole new market. With a whole new set of clients who come up with a completely new range of demands. A bold step for the Dutch company – and judging from the outside, their new boat seems to tackle this with pride and self-confidence.
Center of the yacht: The cockpit
As in every vacational boat the cockpit is the central point and focus of the whole boat. On leisure trips I´d say except for sleeping and personal hygiene, you will spend 99 per cent of your onboard-time here in the open. The Saffier SL 46 is no other, more so, for the „Med“-version this is clearly advertised by the company: It´s a „sailing living room“. In this, I checked out their lounge-style cockpit at first.
Of course, best for a boat show and the big Wow-effect is always to come with some fancy colors and attention-grabing eye-catchers. The shipyard did it perfectly well: As a Dutch company, they went Oranje all-in: The high glossy hull was sparkling a fresh glow through the exhibition hall, the orange-cushions did the rest. I quite like the black-orange contrast but I am sure there are many more classic color choices possible here.
The cockpit is devided into the central seating area near the entryway down and the helm-area. For the central area, crew and guests will have the pleasure to enjoy a thick, high sofa- and cushion-quality around the central cockpit table. As all lines of the running rigging are diverted far back to the helm station, no sheet mumble for the sunbathing community. So far, so good. It gets much more interesting a few feet abaft where the steering posts are mounted.
The Saffier SL 46 has a quite clever system of movable steering seats. As you may see in the picture above, the seat on the port side is put to the classic „helm“ position right behind the steering wheel. Whereas on starboard side, the corresponding seat is locked to an „aft lounging position“. That´s kind of clever as it not only creates more space either behind the wheels or to the bathing platform at anchor, there´s even a third cool position: You can put both seats on one side next to ech other to create a huge aft sunlounge, which will surely be one of the favourite locations on board for your kids or wives.
Easy sailing and sails control is a big thing on the Saffier SL 46 – in this, there are only two main working winches with all ropes of the yacht located here. Two more Gennaker-sheet winches may be ordered and put on the aft deck. This easiness of sailing also means that there is only one sails configuration available, sporting a 68 square metres main and a 50 square metres self-tacking jib. That´s 118 square metres of upwind sails area for this 10.9 tons boat. Compared to the Oceanis 46.1 which can be upscaled to 116 square metres on 10.6 tons or the new Hanse 460 which carries up to 108 suuare metres with a displacement of 12.6 tons, that´s a pretty powerful cruising rigging, I´d say.
Design from another world
Let´s be honest: Mediterranean cruising isn´t so much about speed. It is indeed about having a smooth, fun ride and the opportunity of enjoying unforgettable moments with family or friends. So, sails areas and SA/D-ratios aside, what does the new Saffier flagship offer in this respect? I go down below. And enter a new world …
Saffier´s interior design style has always been special. They do have a very big emphasis on luxury and clear, clean lines; combined with high-class materials. It´s no different – even up a notch and completely new level – on the SL 46! I mean, you are not going down into a yacht´s saloon, you literally enter a world that seems to be taken out straight off a science fiction movie! You like „Star Wars“ or „Passengers“? I would place a bet on the fact that Saffier´s like those too. The Wow-effect just doesn´t stop delivering.
The layout is pretty classic so that you feel at home at an instant. Going down the companionway, you´ll have the big aft bathroom/daybath on the right hand side with your ship´s galley to port where it belongs. A nice, huge and cozy U-shaped settee to the forward main bulkhead around the dinner table that nicely incorporates the mast stand to portside again, vis-a-vis faced by a reclining sofa and the nav-station.
The lines are flowing, nicely contrasted by the sharp angles of the hull windows which bring in some dynamics and places for your eyes to get stuck on. The many horizontal lines, like the nice stepped backrests of the settee as well as the dark/light contrasts of the padded panels form a cozy, warm, trustful but also in some way futuristic atmosphere. I liked it very much!
Details that matter
Saffier managed to enrich the boat´s interior with so many nice details. For example the quality of the cushions is extraordinarily high. I´ve seldom seen such thick, nicely shaped and perfectly designed backrests like the ones on the Saffier SL 46. I mean, look at this sofa?! Yes, it is a huge single piece that is maybe a bit bulky when cleaning and moving it around, but lord, these are so comfortable! Once stretching your feet laying down on this one, you will have a hard time getting up again for your next watch, I guarantee!
In this, Saffier manages not to over-design the boat. Especially some of the so-called high-class luxury brands tend to put in as much of bling as they can whereas the real luxury (at least in my opinion) is the art of understatement and the creation of true, unique experiences. The nice integration of the secondary chart plotter onto the bulkhead for example is such a nice piece of work: Simple, yet rich.
Same goes for the galley, which again is a design masterpiece in my eyes. The simplicity of the „L“ forming the galley, reduced to a clean and clear shape. If the iPhone was a galley, here you can find it! The worktop is made out of one piece, the beautiful sink flawlessly integrated. It´s a beauty to look at, almost a shame to use it, I´d say. This is all clearly not purpose made to fit the needs of the most badass old-salt circumventor, but it is rather made to appeal to the high demands of a proper connoisseur and lover of good design. In this, it´s just perfect.
Cabins aboard the Saffier SL 46
It´s no different in the cabins. The Saffier flagship comes as a standard 3-cabin yacht. The foward owner´s cabin being the undisputed highlight of this boat clearly. This cabin – again very clear and futuristic – could be the backdrop of a science fiction-movie with ease. The playful game of the lines, their curves and contrasts make you think of an „eternal cabin“, it´s flowing like this in here.
The central island bed seems to be floating on top of the endless black, again, all lines correspond so nicely, creating a „let´s fly to Mars“-atmosphere. But apart from all the design and lustful playing around with perspective and colors, there are also practical things in here. Like stowage, little trays and shelves everywhere. The only odd thing was the little sink …
To portside, adjoining a little practical bench for getting dressed/undressed with a table and some trays, there´s a (optional, I guess) wash hand basin with a tub. I mean, yeah, I know thta there are some occasions when you like to clean certain parts of your body without doing the full splash, but all of this efforts (technical-wise) to make you no having to leave the cabin? Beneteau offered this in the then-new Oceanis 40.1 some years ago and I cannot remember a single one of my clients opting for this. Anyway …
Our little Saffier SL 46 tour is concluded in the bathroom. You´d expect overtop luxury here too, but you are wrong: The shipyard again understands to accentuate the bling and put it there, where it makes sense. There is no sense to have so much wooden stuff on a moist and soaked room like this, except maybe for a grating. So, the bathroom is clean, practical and right on purpose. In this, it´s neither cramped nor ugly.
No visible plastic. At all.
What really makes the Saffier SL 46 stand out is another detail: There is no visible plastic or GRP-surface down below whatsoever. Look at the aft cabin shown in the picture here: I means, it is „only“ some occasional guests spending the night in here (being unconsciously at sleep most of the time). But again, the shipyard starts a big undertaking to hide bare white surface – everything has a front-panel, nicely padded or made of veneered wood.
I am not aware of too many other brands and boats putting so much efforts into those smaller, but deciding, details. One could argue that this is only adding to material-consumption and ultimateley weight. One could say that covering all plastic surfaces is worthless and serves no real practical pupose. And one would be right. But it becomes clearer and clearer to me that this yacht is not made for people asking those questions. It is rather made for sailors who want to do something very special.
A cruising statement: Saffier SL 46
The Saffier SL 46 is a statement for most of her purpose. Someone ordering a yacht like this, skipping the classic Med-choice of Solaris or Grand Soleil, spending an upper-shelf budget, does it with a very clear message: It´s an emphasis on clean, clear design, sheer luxury and beauty. The same way her smaller sister ships on all these nice lakes are sheer head turner, the big flagship will make passbyers stand in awe admiring her fancy, eccentric – but never overcompensating – lines in a marina.
We will see if the shipyard can manage to haul out many units of the 46 SL in the future. I can only say that, starting with the renderings and the „North/Med“-Concept a year ago the real ship turned out to be much more beautiful and impressive. Congrats, Saffier: That´s a great showcase of boatbuilding, very nice design and certainly a bold step for the shipyard.
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